Balladeer’s Blog’s Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead strikes again with the old Duran Duran song The Reflex.
TRUMP EFFECT: ELEVEN-YEAR HIGH PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS SAY THINGS ARE GOING WELL PLUS MORE …
Balladeer’s Blog has long emphasized the need for Third Parties in America since the Democrats and Republicans are just rival gangs of white collar criminals.
De facto Third Party President Donald Trump isn’t really a Republican – Republicans themselves often remind all of us of that – he just commandeered their political party apparatus.
ELEVEN YEAR HIGH PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY THINGS ARE GOING WELL – CNN’s own polling is telling us this – which means the figure is probably even higher than the 59% they quoted. At any rate , I always make it clear that after the 2016 election I don’t trust polls and surveys done by the corporate media but Trump-hating fascists eat, sleep and breathe by such polls and surveys so I periodically have fun mentioning results like this.
It’s always hilarious to watch those people IMMEDIATELY go from pretending polls are sacred indicators to pretending they aren’t at all accurate if there’s a result they don’t like.
THIS BUFFOON IS LIVING PROOF WHY WE NEED THIRD PARTIES.
TEARS OF A CLOWN – The weak, inept and crooked little man named Barack Obama was sniveling and whining about President Trump – make that de facto Third Party President Donald Trump – trashing Barry’s pathetically one-sided Iran Deal.
I guess Barry’s worried that this jeopardizes his name as the Father of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program.
SAMANTHA BEE STUPID – The relentlessly unfunny Samantha Bee looked like an even bigger fool than she usually does recently after New York’s Democrat Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – whom she praised and groveled for in an interview – had to resign amid #METOO accusations of brutal VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. At least FOUR accusers have come forward.
Schneiderman’s reps have been saying his explanation is that the violence was all consensual BDSM “games” in which he would abuse the women – and in the case of a woman of color among the accusers – allegedly made her call him “Master.”
AGAIN, DEMOCRATS ARE ALWAYS LECTURING THE REST OF US ABOUT ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BUT IT TURNS OUT TO BE AS HYPOCRITICAL AS IF PRIESTS LECTURED THE REST OF US ABOUT NOT MOLESTING LITTLE BOYS.
AND NEEDLESS TO SAY, AT LEAST ONE OF THE ACCUSERS MENTIONED HOW OTHER DEMOCRAT FEMALES PRESSURED HER NOT TO COME FORWARD JUST BECAUSE SCHNEIDERMAN WAS A DEMOCRAT! WHAT A BUNCH OF “HANDMAIDS.” “IS THIS WHAT FEMINISM LOOKS LIKE?”
Y’know, Samantha, when your only criteria for hero-worship is that the figure you bow down to criticizes Trump (Bee even called Schneiderman a “superhero”) you’re always going to be vulnerable to the kind of humiliation this incident brings down on you.
LLOYD MARCUS: DESPITE THE MEDIA, TRUMP PULLING DOWN WINS FOR WE THE PEOPLE – As I always mention, Lloyd is religious and I’m a non-believer.
But aside from his religious remarks I find his take on Trump’s triumphs very interesting. Among many other items he mentions Kanye West being the latest African-American to break away from the Democrat Plantation.
CLICK HERE Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
THE WRECK OF A WORLD (1889): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION
THE WRECK OF A WORLD (1889) – Written by W. Grove. (No other name available) This novel is the sequel to Grove’s A Mexican Mystery, an ahead-of-its-time work about a train engine devised to have artificial intelligence. The machine – called only The Engine in that story – rebelled and took to preying on human beings in horrific fashion. For Balladeer’s Blog’s review of that novel click HERE
The Wreck of a World is not a direct sequel to A Mexican Mystery but does use one of that novel’s elements as its springboard: the deliciously frightening notion that the Engine’s artificial intelligence might have included the capacity to design and build others of its kind. Though A Mexican Mystery never explored that concept, Grove deals with it in much more detail in this second novel.
Our story begins in what was to Grove “the far future” of 1949. After a fairly superficial depiction of the world’s political and scientific situation in this imaginary future the meat of the tale begins. All in all the author did not present 1940s technology as being much more advanced than what was available in the 1880s. Grove might have done better to set his tale in 1899 or just into the 1900s to detract from his lack of vision on this particular element.
The revolt of the machines begins with train engines, presumably as a nod to the memorably malevolent Engine from Grove’s previous novel. The engines begin constructing others of their kind with the same robotic arms and with each new edition flaunting deadlier and deadlier weaponry to boot.
The engines soon modify themselves beyond the need for train tracks and become more like tanks, so kudos to this neglected author for nicely predicting the advent of such mobile death-machines. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
TRUMP CARDS: MAY 8th
It’s no secret that I consider President Trump to be America’s first de facto Third Party President, nor that I consider him to be the new Franklin Roosevelt AND the new JFK. He has accomplished a great deal for the working class and the poor and I’m not going to ignore all that just because the violent fascists and moronic conformists who hate him whine about him 24/7. These are historic times kicked off when Trump shattered the glass ceiling in November of 2016.
JUDGE ELLIS – Judge Ellis has excellently pointed out how out of line and ridiculously crooked Mueller’s absurd “investigation” is. (Most Trump-haters won’t even know who Judge Ellis is since the only thing they know about our political system is that Trump is the president. They’re in over their heads beyond that.)
(And by the way, for you Trump-hating morons who like to sound so butch I’ll advise you right now I’m NOT a conservative, which means I won’t let you get away with lies and misrepresentations like they do and I won’t be the least bit intimidated by what you imbeciles apparently think is blistering language. Okay? Or as you bitchy little boys like to say “M’kay?”)
The link to the whole piece is below, but first some excerpts per Reuters:
“I don’t see what relationship this indictment has with anything the special counsel is authorized to investigate,” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in the Eastern District of Virginia said.
At a tense hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the judge said Mueller should not have “unfettered power” in his Russia probe and that the charges against Manafort did not arise from the investigation into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
“It’s unlikely you’re going to persuade me the special counsel has unfettered power to do whatever he wants[.]” … “Our investigative scope does cover the activity in the indictment,” Dreeben [the Department’s deputy solicitor general] told the judge.
“Cover bank fraud in 2005 and 2007? Tell me how!” Ellis retorted. …
During the oral arguments, Ellis repeatedly chided Mueller’s $10 million budget.
He also asked whether Rosenstein, who oversees the probe and is considered an important witness into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice, is recused from the case.
And he repeatedly claimed that the indictment appeared to serve as a way for Mueller to “assert leverage” over Manafort. …
Rosenstein’s May 2017 order laying out the scope of the probe, [Dreeben] told the judge, did not reveal all the details because they involve sensitive national security and counterintelligence matters that could not be divulged publicly, but were conveyed to Mueller.
Ellis balked, saying Dreeben’s answer essentially means the Justice Department was “not really telling the truth[.]” …
[Ellis] directed Mueller’s office to take two weeks to consult with U.S. intelligence agencies to see if they will sign off so that he can personally review a sealed, unredacted version of the memo.
Dreeben told him the redacted portions did not pertain to the Manafort case.
“I’ll be the judge,” Ellis said.
James Woods, actor, tweeted: “I can’t in my lifetime remember when a case of this import featured a judge calling the prosecutor a liar from the bench. This is a landmark moment.” Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
USCAA COLLEGE BASEBALL WORLD SERIES TEAMS FOR 2018
It’s less than a week until the start of the 2018 College World Series in the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). Balladeer’s Blog will, as usual, provide full coverage. Here is a look at the field of 10 teams competing for the title.
ONE SEED
Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI AT CLERMONT
Team Name: COUGARS
TWO SEED
Institution: NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL
Team Name: BUILDERS
*
THREE SEED
Institution: WRIGHT STATE AT THE LAKE CAMPUS
Team Name: LAKERS
FOUR SEED
Institution: BLUEFIELD STATE
Team Name: BIG BLUES
*
FIVE SEED
Institution: CLEARY UNIVERSITY
Team Name: PROWLING COUGARS
Filed under College Baseball
TANGAHAU, A FIGURE FROM BEL-REN MYTHOLOGY
Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the gods and myths of Bellona and Rennell Islands has proven very popular as a sub-category of Polynesian myths. (CLICK HERE )
TANGAHAU – In my opinion Tangahau is more like an Odysseus of Bellona and Rennell Islands than Takitaki (covered previously). However, Tangahau’s reputation as a wanderer originally from the Duff Islands seems to tip the balance to Takitaki. Here’s a brief look at Tangahau’s cycle of myths.
If there is enough interest I will do one of my exhaustively detailed examinations, like with Nayanazgeni in Navajo myths, Pele and Hi’iaka from Hawaiian myths, Mwindo from Africa or Baybayan from the Philippines and so many others that I’ve covered.
I) On Taumako Island, Tangahau, a sea captain renowned for his raids on many islands, was preparing for another voyage. The young bachelor’s mother was crying and rending her ears in sorrow since she knew every one of his dangerous journeys might be his last.
II) Tangahau and his crew, which included the priest Nasiu and his son, set out and eventually passed between two flaming islands which Nasiu warned were one of the entrances to the realm of the dead. (Rationalizations of the flaming islands of this tale attribute them to volcanic activity during the early stages of island formation.)
III) Next the voyagers spotted Rennell Island off in the distance. Like many ancient mariners they at first mistook it for an enormous whale. As they drew closer, they spotted Mount Gugha and realized their mistake. They determined to stop and mount a raid. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
COLLEGE BASEBALL: MORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CHAMPS
APPALACHIAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – It took SIXTEEN Innings for a winner to be determined in the clash between the two teams still standing in the AAC. Those two teams were the 4 seeds – the POINT UNIVERSITY SKYHAWKS – and the 2nd seeded TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE BULLDOGS.
After a scoreless 1st Inning the Bulldogs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 2nd, which remained unchanged until the Skyhawks went on top 4-2 in the 5th. Tennessee Wesleyan hits in the 7th and 8th Innings knotted things up at 4-4 and, as I stated at the top, that deadlock lingered until the 16th Inning, when Point University won it 6-5. Pitcher Garrett Brown logged the W. * THE SKYHAWKS ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE AAC TOURNAMENT * Continue reading
Filed under College Baseball
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: MAY 7th
Another look at the make-believe “educators” (LMAO) who have reduced colleges and universities to faith-based institutions that are as irrational as any religious “schools.”
These institutions are no longer interested in intellectual rigor but are instead dedicated to ramming simple-minded notions of “right” and “wrong” down the throats of students.
What to do with religious narrow-mindedness that doesn’t announce itself as such – as with backward-thinking, ridiculous houses of worship – but instead masquerades as “social consciousness” or “being woke.” Alleged teachers are now really just clergy, or seem to consider themselves to be Missionaries for the Democrats.
The close-minded zealots who claim that “teaching is a political act” (LMAO) are the kind of people who often organize and carry out those “Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons” where they change entries to match their own personal political prejudices. Better to use alternate sites like INFOGALACTIC.COM, where political operatives don’t get to edit articles on a whim.
“WHY I QUIT TEACHING” by David Solway. Solway nicely deals with the way that bloated administrative staffs have destroyed intellectual inquiry and operate more like punitive boards. For the piece click HERE
“THE CLOWN QUARTER NOW HAS AN ENGINEERING DIVISION” – A terrific look at how the simple-minded notions of morality that destroyed the humanities are branching into topics like engineering. This article quotes alleged “educators” (LMAO) who teach that requiring correct math results in engineering courses is “racist.” Click HERE
“THE SURREAL WORLD OF TEACHING” – The title says it all. Click HERE Continue reading
Filed under Education or Indoctrination, Neglected History, opinion
SIX DAYS LEFT FOR SUBMISSIONS: ASIAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH JOURNAL
Submissions for the next on-line edition are being accepted through May 13th.
Papers can be submitted under the following areas. (Social Sciences, Humanities, Commerce & Management, Engineering & Technology, Medicine, Cultural Studies, Sciences, Art & Development Studies).
UGC Approved International Journal Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
THE TIMES’ SONG “I HELPED PATRICK MCGOOHAN ESCAPE”
Balladeer’s Blog’s Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead strikes again with this tie-in to my ongoing examination of Patrick McGoohan’s science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner. The video is quintessential 1980s cultural kitsch and was filmed at the Portmeirion Resort for Village authenticity.
Filed under opinion, Prisoner (tv series)
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